$2,500 in 1910
is worth
$64,505.26
in 2017

Value of $2,500 from 1910 to 2017

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer price index, prices in 2017 are
2,480.21% higher than
average prices since 1910.
The U.S. dollar experienced an average inflation rate of 3.08% per year during this period, causing the real value of a dollar to decrease.

In other words, $2,500 in 1910 is equivalent in purchasing power to about $64,505.26 in 2017, a difference of $62,005.26 over 107 years.

The 1910 inflation rate was 4.40%. The inflation rate in 2017 was 2.13%.
The 2017 inflation rate is higher compared to the average inflation rate of 1.51% per year between 2017 and 2020.

This conversion table shows various other 1910 amounts in 2017 dollars, based on the 2,480.21% change in prices:

Conversion Table: Value of a dollar in 2017

Initial value

Equivalent value

$1
dollar
in 1910

$25.80
dollars
in 2017

$5
dollars
in 1910

$129.01
dollars
in 2017

$10
dollars
in 1910

$258.02
dollars
in 2017

$50
dollars
in 1910

$1,290.11
dollars
in 2017

$100
dollars
in 1910

$2,580.21
dollars
in 2017

$500
dollars
in 1910

$12,901.05
dollars
in 2017

$1,000
dollars
in 1910

$25,802.11
dollars
in 2017

$5,000
dollars
in 1910

$129,010.53
dollars
in 2017

$10,000
dollars
in 1910

$258,021.05
dollars
in 2017

$50,000
dollars
in 1910

$1,290,105.26
dollars
in 2017

$100,000
dollars
in 1910

$2,580,210.53
dollars
in 2017

$500,000
dollars
in 1910

$12,901,052.63
dollars
in 2017

$1,000,000
dollars
in 1910

$25,802,105.26
dollars
in 2017

Inflation by Country

Inflation can also vary widely by country. For comparison, in the UK £2,500.00 in 1910 would be equivalent to £279,921.88 in 2017, an absolute change of £277,421.88 and a cumulative change of 11,096.88%.

Compare these numbers to the US's overall absolute change of $62,005.26 and total percent change of 2,480.21%.

Inflation by Spending Category

CPI is the weighted combination of many categories of spending that are tracked by the government. Breaking down these categories helps explain the main drivers behind price changes. This chart shows the average rate of inflation for select CPI categories between 1910 and 2017.

$2,500 in 1910 has the same "purchasing power" or "buying power" as $64,505.26 in 2017.

To get the total inflation rate for the 107 years between 1910 and 2017, we use the following formula:

CPI in 2017 - CPI in 1910CPI in 1910

×

100

=

Cumulative inflation rate (107 years)

Plugging in the values to this equation, we get:

245.12 - 9.59.5

×

100

=

2,480%

Comparison to S&P 500 Index

The average inflation rate of 3.08% has a compounding effect between 1910 and 2017. As noted above, this yearly inflation rate compounds to produce an overall price difference of 2,480.21% over 107 years.

To help put this inflation into perspective, if we had invested $2,500 in the S&P 500 index in 1910, our investment would be nominally worth approximately $58,461,774.88 in 2017. This is a return on investment of 2,338,371.00%, with an absolute return of $58,459,274.88 on top of the original $2,500.

These numbers are not inflation adjusted, so they are considered nominal. In order to evaluate the real return on our investment, we must calculate the return with inflation taken into account.

The compounding effect of inflation would account for 96.12% of returns ($56,195,999.50) during this period. This means the inflation-adjusted real return of our $2,500 investment is $2,263,275.38. You may also want to account for capital gains tax, which would take your real return down to around $1,923,784 for most people.

Investment in S&P 500 Index, 1910-2017

Original Amount

Final Amount

Change

Nominal

$2,500

$58,461,774.88

2,338,371.00%

RealInflation Adjusted

$2,500

$2,265,775.38

90,531.02%

Information displayed above may differ slightly from other S&P 500 calculators. Minor discrepancies can occur because we use the latest CPI data for inflation, annualized inflation numbers for previous years, and we compute S&P price and dividends from January of 1910 to latest available data for 2017 using average monthly close price.

News headlines from 1910

Politics and news often influence economic performance. Here's what was happening at the time:

Alice Stebbins Wells becomes the first female police officer in the U.S.

Englishman Claude Grahame-White becomes the first person to attempt powered flight at night.

Union of South Africa declares independence.

The Buffalo Bill Dam in Wyoming is completed.

Data Source & Citation

Raw data for these calculations comes from
the Bureau of Labor Statistics'
Consumer Price Index
(CPI), established in 1913. Inflation data from 1665 to
1912 is sourced from a historical study conducted by political science
professor Robert Sahr at Oregon State University.

You may use the following MLA citation for this page:
“$2,500 in 1910 → 2017 | Inflation Calculator.” Official Inflation Data, Alioth Finance, 7 Jun. 2020, https://www.officialdata.org/1910-dollars-in-2017?amount=2500.

About the author

Ian Webster is an engineer and data expert based in San Mateo, California. He has worked for Google, NASA, and consulted for governments around the world on data pipelines and data analysis. Disappointed by the lack of clear resources on the impacts of inflation on economic indicators, Ian believes this website serves as a valuable public tool. Ian earned his degree in Computer Science from Dartmouth College.